The Disability Discrimination Act and improving workplace access

With the implementation of the third part of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) last October 2004, a debate has started to rage regarding the impact the change in the existing disability law will have on businesses and if the changes will actually have a positive impact on disabled people.

In order to comply with the law, businesses must make reasonable adjustments to their office premises to ensure that their facilities, workplace environment as well as their services will be accessible to disabled people. In addition to this, it will now be illegal for an employer to discriminate against the disabled in such areas as recruitment, promotion, training, dismissal or redundancy, regardless of the size of the company. Individuals looking at starting a business should consider this especially.

The important “anchor” concept in the DDA is the word “reasonable”. Based on the law, what is deemed as reasonable will depend on the business’ resources, the cost and the practicality of the adaptations and the potential gains to customers and employees, especially to those who are disabled. The factors that surround what is “reasonable” are so mutable that what could be reasonable to one business may not be for another.

Even though business owners can consult with the Disabled Living Foundation, a London-based national charity that offers advise on equipment as well as physical adjustments to a company’s premises, there could still be access barriers that could be attributed to company policy or practice. In cases like these, reasonable alternatives to the actual provision of service should be provided. Some companies have even started to offer home service as a viable workaround in avoiding physical barriers in the office premises.

Business owners or those who are considering starting a business should also realise that disabled people are not necessarily wheelchair bound. Thus, addressing access barriers would mean more than just installing access ramps. Other adjustments that should be considered are clearer signs for the benefit of the visually impaired and providing Braille versions of office literature for the blind.

The government’s Access to Work scheme, on the other hand, gives financial assistance to employees and employers to aid in the costs accrued from employing someone with a disability. This scheme is available to the employed, self-employed and unemployed people. This can also apply to any job, be it full-time or part-time, permanent or temporary. The programme also offers advice and support that can help overcome various work-related obstacles.

An example of this aid is providing equipment solutions that seek to assist people with limited visual impairment like programs that magnify images and text on the screen to make reading easier. Other examples include installing accessible toilet facilities and the introduction of specialised equipment to help hearing impaired employees.

With such schemes as these that support business and the disabled as well as the threat of legal action, it is good business sense to comply with the law and make reasonable adjustments as stipulated in the DDA.

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